document_title: England at the FIFA World Cup

question_text: the last time england reached the world cup semi finals

question_tokens: the last time england reached the world cup semi finals

text: England at the FIFA World Cup

text: History[edit]

text: Brazil 1950[edit]

text: England's first qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup doubled as the 1950 British Home Championship. The series kicked off for England on 15 October 1949 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, against Wales. Stan Mortensen gave England the lead after twenty two minutes, and just seven minutes later, Jackie Milburn doubled the lead. This was the first goal of Milburn's hat trick, which left England 4–0 up with 20 minutes to play. Mal Griffiths scored a consolation goal for Wales ten minutes from time, but England held on for a comfortable victory.

text: A month later, England welcomed Ireland to Maine Road, and it began well for the home side as Jack Rowley scored inside six minutes. England were already 6–0 up, thanks to Jack Froggatt, two for Stan Pearson, Stan Mortensen and a second from Rowley, by the time Ireland struck back through Samuel Smyth after 55 minutes. Rowley added a third and a fourth to his tally in the three minutes following Smyth's goal, however, leaving the score at 8–1 at the hour mark. The frantic scoring rate calmed down after that, with only one apeice before the final whistle, with Stan Pearson completing his brace for England's ninth, and Bobby Brennan scoring for Ireland.

text: It was not until May 1950 that England travelled to Hampden Park to face Scotland, who were also undefeated after their games against Ireland and Wales. With the top two from the group qualifying, both teams were guaranteed progression to the finals, and the game was solely for the honour of winning the British Home Championship, and the seeding advantage to be enjoyed upon reaching Brazil. A solitary goal from Roy Bentley gave England the victory, the title and the top spot in the group.

text: 1950 Finals[edit]

text: England were seeded in pot one for the finals, which meant they were the favourites to progress from Group 2, which also contained Spain, Chile and the United States. England's campaign kicked off against Chile in Rio de Janeiro, and, as was expected, England cruised to a 2–0 victory, courtesy of goals from Stan Mortensen and Wilf Mannion.[citation needed]

text: Their troubles began four days later when they faced the Americans in Belo Horizonte in what has become one of the most famous matches of all time. Joe Gaetjens scored the only goal of the match to give the United States an unlikely victory, which has gone down as one of the World Cup's greatest upsets. A myth arose that the English newspapers were so confident of an English victory that when the result was telegrammed back, they assumed a misprint and printed the score as 10–1 in England's favour. However, this has proven to be untrue.[5]

text: This left England in a sticky situation prior to their final match, against Spain in Rio. They needed to win, and for Chile to beat the United States to stand any chance of going through, and even then they would need the goal averages to fall in their favour. As it turned out, no such calculations were necessary, despite Chile's victory, as Spain's Zarra scored the only goal of the game, eliminating England from the competition.

text: Switzerland 1954[edit]

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text: As with their first World Cup, England's qualifying for the 1954 edition also constituted the 1953–54 British Home Championship. They played Wales at Ninian Park as their first match once again, and the 4–1 result was the same. However, unlike four years earlier, it was the home side that went into the lead, after twenty two minutes through Ivor Allchurch. Despite being 1–0 down at half time, England scored four within eight minutes of the restart; two each for Dennis Wilshaw and Nat Lofthouse.

text: Goodison Park was the venue for England's home clash against Ireland, who were newly renamed Northern Ireland. Harold Hassall got England off to a good start with a goal after just ten minutes. Eddie McMorran put the Irish back on terms just before the hour mark, but Hassall completed his brace six minutes later. Lofthouse completed a comfortable 3–1 win for England.

text: With the top two in the group qualifying for the finals, the final game between England and Scotland, at Hampden Park, settled nothing except the placings within the group, despite Scotland having dropped a point with a 3–3 draw at home to Wales. Allan Brown put the home side ahead after just seven minutes, but it was all square again thanks to Ivor Broadis just four minutes later. Johnny Nicholls gave England the lead for the first time just after half time, and they began to extend a lead after Ronnie Allen's 68th-minute goal. Jimmy Mullen made the game all but certain seven minutes from time, and although Willie Ormond scored a consolation for Scotland with just 1 minute to play, England topped the competition for the second time in a row.

text: 1954 Finals[edit]

text: England were drawn in Group 4 for the finals, with hosts Switzerland, Italy and Belgium. In an odd twist, unique to the 1954 tournament, England and Italy, as the two seeded teams in the group, did not have to play each other.

text: Equally, Switzerland and Belgium did not have to play each other. England's first game in Switzerland was against Belgium in Basel, and they suffered a shock as Léopold Anoul put the Belgians into the lead after just five minutes. Ivor Broadis put the favourites back on terms just over twenty minutes later, and although Nat Lofthouse gave England the lead 10 minutes later, it was proving to be tougher than they had expected against the Belgians.

text: Broadis scored his second just after the hour, but Henri Coppens hit back four minutes later to keep Belgium in the game at only 3–2 down. Anoul completed his brace another four minutes after that to level the scores again. In another oddity peculiar to this World Cup, drawn matches in the group stage would go to extra time, and as such the teams played on with the score at 3–3.

text: Just one minute into the added period, Lofthouse added a fourth for England and they seemed to have won it, but Jimmy Dickinson scored an own goal three minutes later to put the score back at 4–4. It stayed this way until the extra period was up, and as penalty shoot-outs were yet to be invented and replays were not used in the group, the match was recorded as a draw.

text: England's second and final group game was against the hosts in Bern. This proved to be an easier game for the Three Lions, and they scored one goal in each half (from Jimmy Mullen and Dennis Wilshaw respectively) to give them a comfortable win of 2–0. As Switzerland (against England), Italy (against Switzerland) and Belgium (against Italy) had all lost one game, England progressed as group winners, along with Switzerland, who won a play-off against Italy.

text: England faced the winners of group three and defending champions Uruguay in the quarter-finals. Carlos Borges gave the South Americans the lead inside 5 minutes, but Lofthouse put England back on terms ten minutes later. England were clearly struggling, but held on until just before half time, when Obdulio Varela gave the lead back Uruguay.

text: Juan Alberto Schiaffino doubled the lead just after the break, but Tom Finney kept England's foot in the door with his sixty seventh-minute goal. However, it was all over after Javier Ambrois restored the two goal lead with twelve minutes to play. The score remained at 4–2, and England were eliminated from the cup.

text: Sweden 1958[edit]

text: For the first time, England had to play against countries other than the Home Nations to reach the Finals in Sweden. They were drawn against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark. In the qualifying round, England won three out of the four games and drew the other. Four months before the World Cup, Roger Byrne, Duncan Edwards, David Pegg and Tommy Taylor all lost their lives in the Munich air disaster while playing for Manchester United. At the finals, which is the only tournament to have seen all Home Nations take part, the Home Nations were all drawn in different groups.

text: England were drawn against the Soviet Union (2–2), Brazil (0–0) and Austria (2–2), who finished third in the 1954 World Cup. At the end of the group stage, Soviet Union and England each had three points, and had scored four goals and conceded four goals. This meant there was a play-off to decide the second-placed team in the group, the winner to qualify. England lost the play-off 1–0 and were thus knocked out. The only consolation for England was that they were the only team to play the eventual winners Brazil and not lose.

text: Chile 1962[edit]

text: The third World Cup which took place in South America, saw England qualify by successfully qualifying from the group, which contained Portugal and Luxembourg, defeating Luxembourg on both occasions, and defeating Portugal at home, and drawing in Lisbon.

text: At the finals, England were drawn in a group with Hungary, Argentina and Bulgaria. England defeated Argentina 3-1, thanks to goals from Ron Flowers, Bobby Charlton and Jimmy Greaves,[6] before playing out a goalless draw with Bulgaria, and a 2–1 defeat to Hungary.[7]

text: England finished in second place behind Hungary and played the winners of group 3, defending champions Brazil, in the quarter-finals. Brazil scored first through Garrincha, before an equaliser for Gerry Hitchens before half time. However, second-half goals from Garrincha and Vavá meant Brazil won the game 3–1, and eliminated England from the competition.[8] This defeat was manager Walter Winterbottom's last game in charge. Winterbottom had led England to four World Cup Finals. From May 1963, Alf Ramsey became the manager of England.

text: England 1966[edit]

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text: In the 1966 World Cup Finals, England used their home advantage and, under Ramsey, won their first, and only, World Cup title. England played all their games at Wembley Stadium in London, which became the last time that the hosts were granted this privilege. After drawing 0–0 in the opening game against former champions Uruguay, which started a run of four games all ending goalless. England then beat both France and Mexico 2–0 and qualified for the quarter-finals.[citation needed]

text: The quarter-finals saw England play Argentina, which ended in a 1–0 win to England. This match saw the start of the rivalry between England and Argentina, when Argentinian Antonio Rattín was dismissed by German referee Rudolf Kreitlein in a very fierce game. A 2–1 win against Portugal in the semi-final then followed. Portugal were the first team to score against England in the tournament. The final saw England play West Germany, with the result finishing in a 4–2 win for England, after extra time.[citation needed]

text: Mexico 1970[edit]

text: 1970 saw the first World Cup finals take place in North America and England qualified automatically for the tournament by winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup. England were drawn in a group with Romania, former world champions Brazil and Czechoslovakia. Each of the matches only saw one goal, with England defeating Romania and Czechoslovakia, and losing to Brazil. The quarter-final saw a repeat of the 1966 final, with England playing West Germany. England were hampered by the fact that first-choice goalkeeper Gordon Banks was ill, and Peter Bonetti played instead. England led 2–0 with goals by Alan Mullery and Martin Peters, but in the 70th minute, Franz Beckenbauer pulled one goal back for West Germany.

text: After Beckenbauer's goal, Ramsey substituted Bobby Charlton, who overtook Billy Wright as England's most capped player ever, with caps totalling 106. Uwe Seeler equalised for the Germans in the eighty first minute, thereby taking the game into extra time. During extra time, Gerd Müller scored the winning goal for West Germany which saw the German side win 3–2. This turned out to be Charlton's last game for England.[9]

text: West Germany 1974[edit]

text: For the first time, England did not qualify for a World Cup. In a group with Olympic champions Poland and Wales, England could not overtake Poland. After only drawing at home to Wales 1–1 and losing the first leg 2–0 to Poland, meant that England had to beat Poland at home, whilst Poland only needed to draw. Poland managed to withstand England's attacks in the first half, who had Martin Peters playing for them. Poland took the lead in the 57th minute with a goal from Jan Domarski.

text: England equalised six minutes later, with a penalty converted by Allan Clarke. England were unable to score any more goals with goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski keeping England at bay. Brian Clough had previously called Tomaszewski a "clown".[10] The commentator of the game then said "it's all over".[11] Poland took this good form to the finals and ended in third place. After failing to qualify, Alf Ramsey resigned from his post and after a time, where Ramsey and his predecessor had lasted a total of 29 years, no manager was able to last in the job for longer than eight years. This ended when Bobby Robson became England manager.[12]

text: Argentina 1978[edit]

text: England also did not qualify for the fourth World Cup which took place in South America. This time, England were denied by Italy, who had scored three more goals than England after both teams finished on the same points. Goals scored dictated who qualified after the head-to-head record between the two sides finished the same, following a 2–0 home win for each team. The lower-ranked teams in the group were Finland and Luxembourg, but the size of the wins against them proved to be decisive. Nevertheless, Ron Greenwood was given a second chance in charge of England, after taking the role in 1977.

text: Spain 1982[edit]

text: 1982 saw the first time where the European Qualifying Rounds were divided into groups of five teams, where the top two teams qualify for the World Cup. Greenwood used his second chance and took England to Spain by finishing second behind Hungary and above Romania, Switzerland and Norway.

text: At the finals, England won all three group games, defeating France 3-1, with a brace from Bryan Robson,[13] before beating Czechoslovakia 2–0, with a Jozef Barmos own goal, [14] and World Cup newcomers Kuwait 1–0, thanks to a Trevor Francis goal.[15]

text: The next round saw a second group stage consisting of three teams, a first time event at the World Cup. England drew with West Germany 0–0 and after the Germans beat Spain 2–1, England then had to beat Spain with a two-goal difference to progress to the next round. England, however, only managed a 0–0 draw against the Spanish. England remained unbeaten at the end of the tournament. After the World Cup, Ron Greenwood's time as England manager ended, and he was replaced by Bobby Robson.

text: Mexico 1986[edit]

text: 1986 saw the second World Cup to take place in Mexico. England qualified for Mexico 1986 by winning four games and drawing four times against Northern Ireland, who qualified in second place, Romania, Finland and Turkey. In Mexico, England lost their opening game to Portugal 1–0 and could only manage a goalless draw against Morocco. The final group game, however, saw England beat Poland 3–0, which is one of the three highest scores for England at the World Cup, with Gary Lineker scoring a hat-trick.

text: This result took England to second place and finished behind Morocco. England then also beat Paraguay 3–0 in the Round of 16. In the quarter-finals, England renewed their rivalry with Argentina in a game that has become notorious for the Argentina goals, both scored by Diego Maradona. Maradona's first goal, known as the Hand of God, was illegal and should not have counted, as he used his hand to punch the ball into the net. However, the referee missed this infringement, and ruled that the goal should stand. Maradona then made the score 2-0, famously dribbling from inside Argentina's half and around several English players before scoring. Gary Lineker pulled back the score to 2-1, but England ran out of time to equalise, and were eliminated. Nevertheless, Lineker finished with the Golden Boot by scoring six goals and thereby becoming England's first Golden Boot winner.

text: Italy 1990[edit]

text: By winning three and drawing three, England qualified for Italia '90, the second World Cup to be held in Italy, scoring ten goals and conceding none. England were unbeaten through qualification, winning three games, and drawing the remaining three, but still finished second to Sweden, whom they drew with twice.[16] England profited from Romania's 3–1 win over Denmark, who, had they won, would have qualified as the third-best second-placed team. West Germany and England were able to qualify for Italia '90 as the best second-placed teams in the groups with four teams.

text: Because a few years previously saw English hooligans at European competition matches, England were forced to play their group games on Sardinia and Sicily. In group F, was the European champions Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland and Egypt and England. After opening the tournament with a 1–1 draw against Ireland and a 0–0 draw against the Dutch, England then beat Egypt 1–0. This was Egypt's first appearance since the 1934 World Cup.[citation needed] England won the group with four points.[17]

text: In the next round, England had to play Belgium. The game went to extra time, and in the hundredth and nineteenth minute, David Platt scored the winning goal.[18] England also had to play extra time against Cameroon in the quarter-finals. Cameroon were the first African team to have reached the quarter-finals. England opened the scoring through David Platt, but Cameroon quickly turned around the game to lead 2-1. Lineker subsequently won and scored a penalty in the 83rd minute to ensure the game went to extra time. He then scored a second penalty, to see England reach the semi-finals.[19]

text: In the semi-finals, England met West Germany. There was no separating the two teams after 90 minutes, which made England the first team to have played extra time in three successive World Cup games. There was also no separating the two teams after extra time, thereby taking the game to penalties.[20]

text: Although English goalkeeper Peter Shilton dived the right way for every penalty, he was unable to save any. German goalkeeper Bodo Illgner, having failed to save any of England's first three penalties, saved England's fourth penalty, taken by Stuart Pearce. Olaf Thon then scored for Germany, meaning that England's Chris Waddle would have to score his fifth penalty and hope that Shilton saved the Germans' fifth penalty. However, Waddle's penalty missed completely, going high over the crossbar, thereby resulting in England's being knocked out of the competition.[20] The third-place playoff between England and Italy saw England lose their only game of the tournament in normal time. Even though this was England's best finish since the 1966 World Cup, Bobby Robson's time as England manager had come to an end.[21][22]

text: United States 1994[edit]

text: For the 1994 World Cup in the United States, under the leadership of new manager Graham Taylor, England surprisingly did not qualify for the tournament. In a group with six teams, England lost to Norway and the Netherlands, finishing third above Poland, Turkey and San Marino.

text: England went into their final game with San Marino knowing they would need a seven-goal victory and for Poland to beat the Netherlands in the other match in order to qualify.[23] In the game against San Marino, Davide Gualtieri scored against England after nine seconds, taking the lead for the outsiders. England went on to win 7–1, which was too small a goal margin. Additionally, despite the half-time score between the Poles and the Dutch being 1-1, the Dutch went on to win 3-1, meaning that however many goals England scored, they could still not qualify. Taylor's tenure in charge ended and he was replaced by Terry Venables, who was dismissed after England lost the semi-final of Euro 1996, hosted in England.[12]

text: France 1998[edit]

text: After missing out on the World Cup in 1994, England, managed by Glenn Hoddle, qualified for the World Cup in France. England were drawn in Group 2 of UEFA qualifying with Italy, Poland, Georgia and Moldova. England beat Poland, Georgia and Moldova both home and away, but a home defeat to Italy in their fourth match meant they went into the final qualifier at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome just a point ahead of the Azzurri and only needing a draw to qualify automatically; defeat would see them have to navigate a play-off to secure qualification. The match finished as a goalless draw and England finished top of the group.

text: At the finals in France, England played in Group G. England defeated Tunisia 2–0 in the first game, with goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes.[24] Their second match saw England lose 2–1 to Romania; despite an 81st-minute equaliser from Michael Owen, Dan Petrescu scored a winner shortly before injury time. In their final group game, England defeated Colombia 2–0 in the decisive match, thanks to goals from midfielders Darren Anderton and David Beckham.[25] England finished second in Group G, which saw them qualify for the last 16 phase, and play the winner of 1998 FIFA World Cup Group H, Argentina.

text: In a fiery game containing six yellow cards and two penalties, David Beckham was controversially sent off in the 47th minute for what many felt was at most a yellow card offence, knocking over Diego Simeone.[26][27] Gabriel Batistuta opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of the game, before an equaliser also from the spot by Alan Shearer four minutes later. England took the lead through Owen, in the 16th minute. Argentina drew level through Javier Zanetti in injury time of the first half.

text: The game finished 2-2, and, as neither team were able to find a winner in extra time, penalties were needed to decide the team that qualified to the next round. While David Seaman did save one penalty, Argentine goalkeeper Carlos Roa managed to save two, including the vital one from David Batty, thereby knocking England out of the World Cup. Beckham subsequently received death threats and was sent bullets in the post.[28][29]

text: South Korea/Japan 2002[edit]

text: In 2002 the World Cup took place in Asia for the first time. England, under its first ever foreign manager in Swedish Sven-Göran Eriksson, were able to qualify for the tournament. England were drawn in Group 9, alongside Germany, Finland, Greece and Albania. In the last ever game in the original Wembley Stadium, (which closed after the match) England played Germany, losing 1–0, the only goal scored by Dietmar Hamann. The match was the last under the management of Kevin Keegan, who resigned at the end of the match, and was replaced by Eriksson.[30] By beating Germany 5–1 in Munich, England's qualifying campaign was revitalised, and they qualified automatically, by drawing 2–2 with Greece. Germany, who could only draw 0–0 with Finland, had to play a play-off game against Ukraine, with England qualifying ahead winning the group.

text: In Japan, England had to play against Eriksson's homeland, Sweden, and both settled out for a 1–1 draw. England and Beckham gained a measure of revenge for their previous 1998 defeat in defeating Argentina 1-0, thanks to a Beckham penalty. However, England could only manage a disappointing 0-0 draw against Nigeria, meaning that although they were able to qualify for the second round, where they played Denmark, they qualified as runners up, which meant that they would meet favourites Brazil in the quarter-finals if they qualified.

text: England played Denmark in the round of 16 defeating Denmark 3–0, thanks to goals from Micheal Owen, Rio Ferdinand, and Emile Heskey.[31] England played four-time World Cup winners and 1998 runners-up Brazil in the quarter-finals. Despite leading through a Michael Owen goal, a mistake by David Seaman saw England lose 2–1, and Brazil won their fourth World Cup match against England, and went on to win the tournament.[32]

text: Germany 2006[edit]

text: England were drawn into Group 6 of European qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. The group featured other home nations in Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as Poland (who had eliminated England the last time the World Cup took place in Germany), Azerbaijan and Austria. England won eight of the 10 games, and qualified as group winners, in front of Portugal, despite drawing to Austria in Vienna, and losing to Northern Ireland in Belfast.[33]

text: In Germany, however, England were less convincing. England played in Group B, alongside Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Sweden. England started with a 1–0 win against Paraguay; which was won due to a 3rd minute own goal.[34] The second game against first time qualifiers Trinidad and Tobago saw England have to wait until the 83rd minute for England to take the lead, with Peter Crouch opened the scoring with a goal many felt was illegal, and the second goal of the game coming in added time from Steven Gerrard.[35][36] The last group game saw England play against Sweden, where an eventual 2-2 draw saw them qualify for the next round as group winners, thereby avoiding playing hosts Germany.[37]

text: In the last 16 stage, a free kick from David Beckham saw England win 1–0 against Ecuador and reach the quarter-finals, where they faced Portugal.[38] The game finished goalless, and England once again were knocked out on penalties and Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo became the first goalkeeper to save three penalties in a penalty shoot-out. Ricardo saved from Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, and Jamie Carragher; the only England player who successfully converted his penalty was Owen Hargreaves. Portugal won the shoot-out 3-1, despite misses from Petit and Hugo Viana. This game was also Erickson's final match as England manager.[39]

text: South Africa 2010[edit]

text: Qualification for the first African World Cup went successfully for new England manager Fabio Capello, after previous manager Steve McClaren was unable to secure qualification to the Euro 2008. By winning nine times and only losing to Ukraine, England qualified ahead of Croatia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra. England's group was seen as a favourable one, containing comparatively much weaker teams.[40] However, England opened up their campaign with a 1–1 draw against the United States, thanks to a major error by goalkeeper Robert Green. They then drew 0–0 against Algeria and were booed off the field by their own fans, drawing the ire of striker Wayne Rooney.[41] England eventually qualified for the next round by beating Slovenia 1–0, but only qualified as runners up to the United States, thereby meaning they would draw favourites Germany.

text: In the second round match, Germany took the lead after 20 minutes after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer played the ball down the pitch to Miroslav Klose, who opened the scoring. The score became 2–0 to Germany after 32 minutes. Shortly after, England defender Matthew Upson scored a header. Later, Frank Lampard had a shot at goal which was disallowed despite crossing the line; which was confirmed on replays. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer admitted subsequently he knew the ball had crossed the line, but decided to deceive the referee.[42] The German media reported it was "revenge for Wembley", while the English media criticised FIFA's refusal to implement goal-line technology. Ironically, despite his earlier opposition to goal-line technology, Sepp Blatter said that it should be introduced after a Ukrainian goal against England at Euro 2012 was ruled out.[43][42][44] As England tried to equalise, Germany used this to their advantage and scored two more goals. This became Germany's biggest win against England in a World Cup, winning 4-1.[45]

text: Brazil 2014[edit]

text: Under Roy Hodgson, who replaced Fabio Capello after Euro 2012 after a disagreement between Capello and The FA, England qualified for the second World Cup to be held in Brazil. Ukraine were again one of the opponents in the qualifying rounds. The other opponents included Montenegro, Poland, Moldova and San Marino. After winning six games and drawing four, England qualified unbeaten.[46]

text: The draw for the finals saw England have to play against Italy and Uruguay, both former world champions, which meant that it was the first ever time three World Champions were drawn in the same group, along with Costa Rica. England lost to Italy and Uruguay, and were thus knocked out after two games. The final match against Costa Rica finished as a goalless draw. This performance was statistically their worst ever performance at a World Cup, ending up with just one point after two losses to Uruguay and Italy and a goalless draw with Costa Rica in the dead rubber match, their lowest points total in the group stage of a world cup.[46]

text: Russia 2018[edit]

text: England played in UEFA Group F in qualification for the 2018 World Cup, in a group of six with Slovakia, Slovenia, Scotland, Lithuania and Malta, with only the winner of the group guaranteed qualification. England went into the qualification process under manager Sam Allardyce, only for Allardyce to leave the post after just one game due to controversy regarding discussing breaking FIFA rules.[47]

text: Under Allardyce's replacement, Gareth Southgate, England went undefeated throughout qualification, winning eight matches out of 10, drawing with Slovenia 0–0 in Ljubljana, and drawing 2–2 with Scotland in Glasgow thanks to a 90th-minute equaliser from Harry Kane.[48] This was the third successive major tournament that England were undefeated, having been undefeated in 2014 World Cup, and Euro 2016 qualifying.

text: 2018 Finals[edit]

text: Under Gareth Southgate, the England team began their tournament in group G against Tunisia. The game started well for England with a goal from Harry Kane in the 11th minute. Tunisia equalised through Sassi from the penalty spot in the 35th minute following a foul by Kyle Walker. Some controversy followed as various potential offences against Harry Kane, inside the penalty area were ignored by the referee and no VAR checks were carried out. England persevered and scored a second goal in the 91st minute, again by Harry Kane, resulting in a 2–1 victory.[49]

text: In the second group stage match, England surpassed their record for goals scored in a World Cup match by beating Panama 6-1. Jesse Lingard scored the third goal, John Stones scored the first and fourth goals and Harry Kane scored a hat-trick with the second, fifth and sixth goals.[50]

text: In the final group stage match, England narrowly lost 1-0 to Belgium. Adnan Januzaj scored the sole goal of the game; but with both teams having fielded reserve teams, with England specificially making 9 changes. Before the game media outlets stating that a loss could potentially become beneficial, as the winner would be in the half of the draw with four of the top seven sides in the world.[c][51][52] The result that meant Belgium topped the group and England finished second, setting up a last 16 clash with Group H winners Colombia.[53][54]

text: England played their last 16 match in the Otkritie Arena, Moscow, with the same team as against Tunisia. Harry Kane scored his sixth goal of the tournament, and the third penalty, after once again being fouled in the box from a corner, similarly as against Panama.[55] The score remained at 1-0, until stoppage time, where a header from Yerry Mina beat Jordan Pickford in goal to bring the game to extra time. Neither team managed to score in extra time, and the match went to penalties, which England won 4-3.[56] As well as being the first knockout match England had won at a major tournament since 2006 (last defeating Ecuador in the last 16); it was the first time England won a World Cup penalty shoot-out.[d][58] The match was notable for the heated atmosphere the game was played in, with a total of eight yellow cards being shown in the match.[e][59]

text: England played against Sweden in their quarter-final at Cosmos Arena, Samara on 7 July 2018.[57] They won the match 2–0, with defender Harry Maguire scoring his first England goal, a header scored from a corner, and Dele Alli a second header from close range. This would send them through to their third World Cup semi-final and their first since 1990, and third overall.[60] The team played Croatia in the semi-final, resulting in a 2–1 loss after extra time.[61] England would later finish fourth in the competition, the best result since 1990. England would lose again to Belgium in the 3rd place playoff, thanks to goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard, despite a Eric Dier shot being cleared off the line by Toby Alderweireld.[62]

text: The tournament would see England score nine goals from set-pieces – the most by a team in a single World Cup tournament since 1966.[63]

text: Records[edit]

text:
Year
Round
Position
GP
W
D*
L
GF
GA
GD

 1930
Not a FIFA member

 1934

 1938

 1950
Group stage
8th
3
1
0
2
2
2
0

 1954
Quarter-finals
7th
3
1
1
1
8
8
0

 1958
Group stage
11th
4
0
3
1
4
5
-1

 1962
Quarter-finals
8th
4
1
1
2
5
6
-1

 1966
Champions
1st
6
5
1
0
11
3
8

 1970
Quarter-finals
8th
4
2
0
2
4
4
0

 1974
Did not qualify

 1978

 1982
Second group stage
6th
5
3
2
0
6
1
5

 1986
Quarter-finals
8th
5
2
1
2
7
3
4

 1990
Semi finals
4th
7
3
3
1
8
6
2

 1994
Did not qualify

 1998
Round of 16
9th
4
2
1
1
7
4
3

  2002
Quarter-finals
6th
5
2
2
1
6
3
3

 2006
Quarter-finals
7th
5
3
2
0
6
2
4

 2010
Round of 16
13th
4
1
2
1
3
5
-2

 2014
Group stage
26th
3
0
1
2
2
4
-2

 2018
Semi-finals
4th
7
3
1
3
12
8
4

 2022
TBD

   2026

Total
15/21
1 title
69
29
21
19
91
64
27

text: By match[edit]

text:
Year

Round

Against

Score

Scorers

 1950
Group 2
 Chile
2–0
Mortensen, Mannion

 United States
0–1

 Spain
0–1

 1954
Group 4
 Belgium
4–4 (aet)
Broadis (2), Lofthouse (2)

  Switzerland
2–0
Mullen, Wilshaw

Quarter-final
 Uruguay
2–4
Lofthouse, Finney

 1958
Group 4
 Soviet Union
2–2
Kevan, Finney

 Brazil
0–0

 Austria
2–2
Haynes, Kevan

Play-off
 Soviet Union
0–1

 1962
Group 4
 Hungary
1–2
Flowers

 Argentina
3–1
Flowers, Charlton, Greaves

 Bulgaria
0–0

Quarter-final
 Brazil
1–3
Hitchens

 1966
Group 1
 Uruguay
0–0

 Mexico
2–0
Charlton, Hunt

 France
2–0
Hunt (2)

Quarter-final
 Argentina
1–0
Hurst

Semi-final
 Portugal
2–1
Charlton (2)

Final
 West Germany
4–2 (aet)
Hurst (3), Peters

 1970
Group 3
 Romania
1–0
Hurst

 Brazil
0–1

 Czechoslovakia
1–0
Clarke

Quarter-final
 West Germany
2–3 (aet)
Mullery, Peters

 1982
Group 4
 France
3–1
Robson (2), Mariner

 Czechoslovakia
2–0
Francis, Barmoš (o.g.)

 Kuwait
1–0
Francis

Group B Round 2
 West Germany
0–0

 Spain
0–0

 1986
Group F
 Portugal
0–1

 Morocco
0–0

 Poland
3–0
Lineker (3)

Round of 16
 Paraguay
3–0
Lineker (2), Beardsley

Quarter-final
 Argentina
1–2
Lineker

 1990
Group F
 Republic of Ireland
1–1
Lineker

 Netherlands
0–0

 Egypt
1–0
Wright

Round of 16
 Belgium
1–0 (aet)
Platt

Quarter-final
 Cameroon
3–2 (aet)
Platt, Lineker (2)

Semi-final
 West Germany
1–1 (aet)[f]
Lineker

Third-place play-off
 Italy
1–2
Platt

 1998
Group G
 Tunisia
2–0
Shearer, Scholes

 Romania
1–2
Owen

 Colombia
2–0
Anderton, Beckham

Round of 16
 Argentina
2–2 (aet)[f]
Shearer, Owen

  2002
Group F
 Sweden
1–1
Campbell

 Argentina
1–0
Beckham

 Nigeria
0–0

Round of 16
 Denmark
3–0
Ferdinand, Owen, Heskey

Quarter-final
 Brazil
1–2
Owen

 2006
Group B
 Paraguay
1–0
Gamarra (o.g.)

 Trinidad and Tobago
2–0
Crouch, Gerrard

 Sweden
2–2
Cole, Gerrard

Round of 16
 Ecuador
1–0
Beckham

Quarter-final
 Portugal
0–0 (aet)[f]

 2010
Group C
 United States
1–1
Gerrard

 Algeria
0–0

 Slovenia
1–0
Defoe

Round of 16
 Germany
1–4
Upson

 2014
Group D
 Italy
1–2
Sturridge

 Uruguay
1–2
Rooney

 Costa Rica
0–0

 2018
Group G
 Tunisia
2–1
Kane (2)

 Panama
6–1
Stones (2), Kane (3), Lingard

 Belgium
0–1

Round of 16
 Colombia
1–1 (aet)[g]
Kane

Quarter-final
 Sweden
2–0
Maguire, Alli

Semi-final
 Croatia
1–2 (aet)
Trippier

Third-place play-off
 Belgium
0–2

text: By opponent[edit]

text:
Country

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

GF

GA

GD

 Argentina
5
3
1
1
8
5
+3

 Germany
5
1
2
2
8
10
-2

 Brazil
4
0
1
3
2
6
-4

 Sweden
3
1
2
0
5
3
+2

 Belgium
4
1
1
2
5
7
-2

 Portugal
3
1
1
1
2
2
0

 Uruguay
3
0
1
2
3
6
-3

 France
2
2
0
0
5
1
+4

 Paraguay
2
2
0
0
4
0
+4

 Tunisia
2
2
0
0
4
1
+3

 Czechoslovakia
2
2
0
0
3
0
+3

 Colombia
2
1
1
0
3
1
+2

 Romania
2
1
0
1
2
2
0

 Soviet Union
2
0
1
1
2
3
-1

 United States
2
0
1
1
1
2
-1

 Spain
2
0
1
1
0
1
-1

 Italy
2
0
0
2
2
4
-2

 Panama
1
1
0
0
6
1
+5

 Poland
1
1
0
0
3
0
+3

 Denmark
1
1
0
0
3
0
+3

 Chile
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

  Switzerland
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

 Mexico
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

 Trinidad and Tobago
1
1
0
0
2
0
+2

 Cameroon
1
1
0
0
3
2
+1

 Kuwait
1
1
0
0
1
0
+1

 Egypt
1
1
0
0
1
0
+1

 Ecuador
1
1
0
0
1
0
+1

 Slovenia
1
1
0
0
0
0
+1

 Austria
1
0
1
0
2
2
0

 Republic of Ireland
1
0
1
0
1
1
0

 Bulgaria
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Morocco
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Netherlands
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Nigeria
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Algeria
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Costa Rica
1
0
1
0
0
0
0

 Hungary
1
0
0
1
1
2
-1

 Croatia
1
0
0
1
1
2
-1

text: Last update: 14 July 2018

text: Players' honours[edit]

text: List of England players with the most appearances at World Cups[edit]

text:
No.

Name

Matches

World Cups

1
Peter Shilton
17
1982, 1986, 1990

2

Terry Butcher
14
1982, 1986, 1990

Bobby Charlton
14
1958, 1962, 1966, 1970

Ashley Cole
14
2002, 2006, 2010

Bobby Moore
14
1962, 1966, 1970

6
David Beckham
13
1998, 2002, 2006

7

Steven Gerrard
12
2006, 2010, 2014

Gary Lineker
12
1986, 1990

Michael Owen
12
1998, 2002, 2006

10
Chris Waddle
11
1986, 1990

text: List of England top goalscorers at World Cups[edit]

text:
No.

Name

Goals

World Cups

1
Gary Lineker
10
1986 (6) and 1990 (4)

2
Harry Kane
6
2018

3
Geoff Hurst
5
1966 (4) and 1970 (1)

4

Bobby Charlton
4
1962 (1) and 1966 (3)

Michael Owen
4
1998 (2) and 2002 (2)

6

Nat Lofthouse
3
1954

Roger Hunt
3
1966

David Platt
3
1990

David Beckham
3
1998, 2002 and 2006

Steven Gerrard
3
2006 (2) and 2010

11
Nine players
2

text: Current as of 3 July 2018 after the match against Colombia

text: List of England goals by tournament[edit]

text:
World Cup

Goalscorer(s)

1950

Wilf Mannion, Stan Mortensen

1954

Nat Lofthouse (3), Ivor Broadis (2), Tom Finney, Jimmy Mullen, Dennis Wilshaw

1958

Derek Kevan (2), Tom Finney, Johnny Haynes

1962

Ron Flowers (2), Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves, Gerry Hitchens

1966

Geoff Hurst (4), Roger Hunt (3), Bobby Charlton (3), Martin Peters

1970

Allan Clarke, Geoff Hurst, Alan Mullery, Martin Peters

1982

Trevor Francis (2), Bryan Robson (2), Paul Mariner, Own Goal

1986

Gary Lineker (6), Peter Beardsley

1990

Gary Lineker (4), David Platt (3), Mark Wright

1998

Michael Owen (2), Alan Shearer (2), Darren Anderton, David Beckham, Paul Scholes

2002

Michael Owen (2), David Beckham, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand, Emile Heskey

2006

Steven Gerrard (2), David Beckham, Joe Cole, Peter Crouch, Own Goal

2010

Jermain Defoe, Steven Gerrard, Matthew Upson

2014

Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge

2018

Harry Kane (6), John Stones (2), Jesse Lingard, Harry Maguire, Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier

text: List of England players playing abroad at a World Cup[edit]

text: Historically, very few English World Cup squad members were playing for a club in a foreign league at the time of their selection to the national squad.[64]

text:
Year

Number (Country)

Players (Apps)

1950–1958

0

1962

1 (Italy)

Gerry Hitchens (2)

1966–1970

0

1982

1 (West Germany)

Tony Woodcock (2)

1986

2 (Italy)

Mark Hateley (3), Ray Wilkins

1990

5 (4 in Scotland, 1 in France)

Terry Butcher (5), Trevor Steven (3), Gary Stevens (2), Chris Woods (0); Chris Waddle (7)

1998

0

2002

1 (Germany)

Owen Hargreaves (2)

2006

2 (1 Spain, 1 Germany)

David Beckham (5); Owen Hargreaves (4)

2010

0

2014

1 (Scotland)

Fraser Forster (0)

2018

0

text: Team awards and records[edit]

text: Team Awards

text:
World Champions 1966
FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1990
FIFA Fair Play Trophy 1998 (shared)

text: Individual Awards

text:
Golden Ball 1966: Bobby Charlton
Silver Ball 1966: Bobby Moore
Golden Boot 1986: Gary Lineker
Golden Boot 2018: Harry Kane
Bronze Boot 1966: Geoff Hurst
Golden Glove 1966: Gordon Banks
Best Young Player Award 1998: Michael Owen

text: Team Records

text:
Most penalty shoot-outs lost: 3 (shared with Italy and Spain)
Biggest World Cup victory: 6-1 vs Panama, 2018 Group Stage [65]

text: Individual Records

text:
Only hattrick in a final: Geoff Hurst (1966 v West Germany)
Oldest captain: Peter Shilton (age 40 years and 292 days, 1990 v Italy)
Most clean sheets: Peter Shilton (10, 1982-1990) (shared with Fabien Barthez)

text: Refereeing[edit]

text: Four FIFA World Cup finals were officiated by English referees, more than by any other football association. The first Englishman to officiate a final, George Reader, is also the oldest World Cup referee to date, as he was 53 years and 236 days old at the 1950 decisive match between Uruguay and Brazil. The other final referees are William Ling (1954), Jack Taylor (1974) and Howard Webb (2010).

text: Arthur Ellis, who was a linesman at the 1950 final, is part of an elite group of referees who has been called up for three consecutive World Cups (1950–1958).


document_title: Treaty of Versailles

question_text: who was blamed for ww1 in the treaty of versailles

root

text: Treaty of Versailles

text: Background

text: World War I

text: The First World War (1914–1918) was fought across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Countries beyond the war zones were also affected by the disruption of international trade, finance and diplomatic pressures from the belligerents.[9] In 1917, two revolutions occurred within the Russian Empire, which led to the collapse of the Imperial Government and the rise of the Bolshevik Party led by Vladimir Lenin.[10]

tag: p

text: Fourteen Points

text: On 6 April 1917, the United States entered the war against the Central Powers due to German submarine warfare against merchant ships trading with France and Britain, which led to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and the loss of 128 American lives, as well as the interception of the Zimmerman Telegram, sent by the Empire of Germany to Mexico, urging for a declaration of war against the United States. The American war aim was to detach the war from nationalistic disputes and ambitions after the Bolshevik disclosure of secret treaties between the Allies. The existence of these treaties tended to discredit Allied claims that Germany was the sole power with aggressive ambitions.[11]

text: On 8 January 1918, United States President Woodrow Wilson issued a statement that became known as the Fourteen Points. This speech outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. It also called for a diplomatic end to the war, international disarmament, the withdrawal of the Central Powers from occupied territories, the creation of a Polish state, the redrawing of Europe's borders along ethnic lines, and the formation of a League of Nations to afford "mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike".[12][13] Wilson's speech also responded to Vladimir Lenin's Decree on Peace of November 1917, which proposed an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the war and called for a just and democratic peace uncompromised by territorial annexations. The Fourteen Points were based on the research of the Inquiry, a team of about 150 advisors led by foreign-policy advisor Edward M. House, into the topics likely to arise in the anticipated peace conference. Europeans generally welcomed Wilson's intervention, but Allied colleagues Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy were sceptical of Wilsonian idealism.[14]

text: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918

text: After the Central Powers launched Operation Faustschlag on the Eastern Front, the new Soviet Government of Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany on 3 March 1918.[15] This treaty ended the war between Russia and the Central powers and annexed 1,300,000 square miles (3,400,000 km2) of territory and 62 million people.[16] This loss equated to a third of the Russian population, a quarter of its territory, around a third of the country's arable land, three-quarters of its coal and iron, a third of its factories (totalling 54 percent of the nation's industrial capacity), and a quarter of its railroads.[16][17]

text: Armistice

text: During the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers began to collapse.[18] Desertion rates within the German army began to increase, and civilian strikes drastically reduced war production.[19][20] On the Western Front, the Allied forces launched the Hundred Days Offensive and decisively defeated the German western armies.[21] Sailors of the Imperial German Navy at Kiel mutinied, which prompted uprisings in Germany, which became known as the German Revolution.[22][23] The German government tried to obtain a peace settlement based on the Fourteen Points, and maintained it was on this basis that they surrendered. Following negotiations, the Allied powers and Germany signed an armistice, which came into effect on 11 November while German forces were still positioned in France and Belgium.[24][25][26]

text: Occupation

text: The terms of the armistice called for an immediate evacuation of German troops from occupied Belgium, France, and Luxembourg within fifteen days.[27] In addition, it established that Allied forces would occupy the Rhineland. In late 1918, Allied troops entered Germany and began the occupation.[28]

text: Blockade

text: Both the German Empire and Great Britain were dependent on imports of food and raw materials, primarily from the Americas, which had to be shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The Blockade of Germany (1914–1919) was a naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers to stop the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs reaching the Central Powers. The German Kaiserliche Marine was mainly restricted to the German Bight and used commerce raiders and unrestricted submarine warfare for a counter-blockade. The German Board of Public Health in December 1918 stated that 763,000 German civilians had died during the Allied blockade, although an academic study in 1928 put the death toll at 424,000 people.[29]

text: Polish uprising

text: In late 1918, a Polish government was formed and an independent Poland proclaimed. In December, Poles launched an uprising within the German province of Posen. Fighting lasted until February, when an armistice was signed that left the province in Polish hands, but technically still a German possession.[30]

text: Negotiations

text: Negotiations between the Allied powers started on 18 January in the Salle de l'Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. Initially, 70 delegates from 27 nations participated in the negotiations.[31] The defeated nations of Germany, Austria, and Hungary were excluded from the negotiations. Russia was also excluded because it had negotiated a separate peace (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) with Germany in 1918. The terms of this treaty awarded Germany a large proportion of Russia's land and resources. Its terms were extremely harsh, as the negotiators at Versailles later pointed out.

text: At first a "Council of Ten" comprising two delegates each from Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Japan met officially to decide the peace terms. It became the "Big Four" when Japan dropped out and the top person from each of the other four nations met in 145 closed sessions to make all the major decisions to be ratified by the entire assembly. Apart from Italian issues, the main conditions were determined at personal meetings among the leaders of the "Big Three" nations: British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and American President Woodrow Wilson.

text: The minor nations attended a weekly "Plenary Conference" that discussed issues in a general forum, but made no decisions. These members formed over 50 commissions that made various recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the final treaty.[32][33]

text: French aims

text: As the only major allied power sharing a land border with Germany, France was chiefly concerned with weakening Germany as much as possible. The French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau described France's position best by telling Wilson: "America is far away, protected by the ocean. Not even Napoleon himself could touch England. You are both sheltered; we are not." [34] Clemenceau and his colleagues hoped at the very least to have Allied troops occupy bridges over the Rhine and proposed a plan to create a buffer state in the Rhineland in order to create a barrier between a revitalized Germany and France. However, their demands would not be met by the treaty. Instead, France obtained the demilitarization of the Rhineland, a mandate over the Saar and promises of Anglo-American support in case of a new German aggression (a commitment that could not be relied on after the United States failed to ratify the treaty).[35] Clemenceau's inability to procure the Rhineland state led to fierce criticism of him in France and contributed to his subsequent fall from power.[36]

text: British economist John Maynard Keynes argued,

text: So far as possible, therefore, it was the policy of France to set the clock back and undo what, since 1870, the progress of Germany had accomplished. By loss of territory and other measures her population was to be curtailed; but chiefly the economic system, upon which she depended for her new strength, the vast fabric built upon iron, coal, and transport must be destroyed. If France could seize, even in part, what Germany was compelled to drop, the inequality of strength between the two rivals for European hegemony might be remedied for generations.[37]

text: France, which suffered significant destruction in its northern territories (the worst damage sustained in areas that formed a so-called Red Zone) and the second heaviest (after the Russian empire) human losses among allies (see main article World War I casualties), was adamant on the payment of reparations. The failure of the government of the Weimar Republic to pay these reparations led to the Occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian forces.

text: British aims

text: Britain had suffered little land devastation during the war and Prime Minister David Lloyd George supported reparations to a lesser extent than the French. Britain began to look on a restored Germany as an important trading partner and worried about the effect of reparations on the British economy.[38]

text: American aims

text: Before the end of the war, President Woodrow Wilson put forward his Fourteen Points, which represented the liberal position at the Conference and helped shape world opinion. Wilson was concerned with rebuilding the European economy, encouraging self-determination, promoting free trade, creating appropriate mandates for former colonies, and above all, creating a powerful League of Nations that would ensure the peace. He opposed harsh treatment of Germany but was outmanoeuvered by Britain and France. He brought along top intellectuals as advisors, but his refusal to include prominent Republicans in the American delegation made his efforts seem partisan, and it contributed to a risk of political defeat at home.[39]

text: Treaty

text: In June 1919, the Allies declared that war would resume if the German government did not sign the treaty they had agreed to among themselves. The government headed by Philipp Scheidemann was unable to agree on a common position, and Scheidemann himself resigned rather than agree to sign the treaty. Gustav Bauer, the head of the new government, sent a telegram stating his intention to sign the treaty if certain articles were withdrawn, including Articles 227, 230 and 231.[nb 1] In response, the Allies issued an ultimatum stating that Germany would have to accept the treaty or face an invasion of Allied forces across the Rhine within 24 hours. On 23 June, Bauer capitulated and sent a second telegram with a confirmation that a German delegation would arrive shortly to sign the treaty.[40] On 28 June 1919, the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the immediate impetus for the war), the peace treaty was signed.[2] The treaty had clauses ranging from war crimes, the prohibition on the merging of Austria with Germany without the consent of the League of Nations, freedom of navigation on major European rivers, to the returning of a Koran to the king of Hedjaz.[41][42][43][44]

text: Territorial changes

text: The treaty stripped Germany of 25,000 square miles (65,000 km2) of territory and 7 million people. It also required Germany to give up the gains made via the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and grant independence to the protectorates that had been established.[17] In Western Europe Germany was required to recognize Belgian sovereignty over Moresnet and cede control of the Eupen-Malmedy area. Within six months of the transfer, Belgium was required to conduct a plebiscite on whether the citizens of the region wanted to remain under Belgian sovereignty or return to German control, communicate the results to the League of Nations and abide by the League's decision.[45] To compensate for the destruction of French coal mines, Germany was to cede the output of the Saar coalmines to France and control of the Saar to the League of Nations for 15 years; a plebiscite would then be held to decide sovereignty.[46] The treaty "restored" the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to France by rescinding the treaties of Versailles and Frankfurt of 1871 as they pertained to this issue.[47] The sovereignty of Schleswig-Holstein was to be resolved by a plebiscite to be held at a future time (see Schleswig Plebiscites).[48]

text: In Eastern Europe, Germany was to recognize the independence of Czechoslovakia and cede parts of the province of Upper Silesia.[49] Germany had to recognize the independence of Poland and renounce "all rights and title over the territory". Portions of Upper Silesia were to be ceded to Poland, with the future of the rest of the province to be decided by plebiscite. The border would be fixed with regard to the vote and to the geographical and economic conditions of each locality.[50] The province of Posen (now Poznan), which had come under Polish control during the Greater Poland Uprising, was also to be ceded to Poland.[30][51] Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania), on historical and ethnic grounds, was transferred to Poland so that the new state could have access to the sea and became known as the Polish Corridor.[52] The sovereignty of part of southern East Prussia was to be decided via plebiscite while the East Prussian Soldau area, which was astride the rail line between Warsaw and Danzig, was transferred to Poland outright without plebiscite.[53][54] An area of 51,800 square kilometres (20,000 square miles) was granted to Poland at the expense of Germany.[55] Memel was to be ceded to the Allied and Associated powers, for disposal according to their wishes.[56] Germany was to cede the city of Danzig and its hinterland, including the delta of the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea, for the League of Nations to establish the Free City of Danzig.[57]

text: Mandates

text: Article 119 of the treaty required Germany to renounce sovereignty over former colonies and Article 22 converted the territories into League of Nations mandates under the control of Allied states.[58] Togoland and German Kamerun (Cameroon) were transferred to France. Ruanda and Urundi were allocated to Belgium, whereas German South-West Africa went to South Africa and the United Kingdom obtained German East Africa.[59][60][61] As compensation for the German invasion of Portuguese Africa, Portugal was granted the Kionga Triangle, a sliver of German East Africa in northern Mozambique.[62] Article 156 of the treaty transferred German concessions in Shandong, China, to Japan, not to China. Japan was granted all German possessions in the Pacific north of the equator and those south of the equator went to Australia, except for German Samoa, which was taken by New Zealand.[60][63]

text: Military restrictions

text: The treaty was comprehensive and complex in the restrictions imposed upon the post-war German armed forces (the Reichswehr). The provisions were intended to make the Reichswehr incapable of offensive action and to encourage international disarmament.[64][65] Germany was to demobilize sufficient soldiers by 31 March 1920 to leave an army of no more than 100,000 men in a maximum of seven infantry and three cavalry divisions. The treaty laid down the organisation of the divisions and support units, and the General Staff was to be dissolved.[66] Military schools for officer training were limited to three, one school per arm, and conscription was abolished. Private soldiers and Non-commissioned officers were to be retained for at least twelve years and officers for a minimum of 25 years, with former officers being forbidden to attend military exercises. To prevent Germany from building up a large cadre of trained men, the number of men allowed to leave early was limited.[67]

text: The number of civilian staff supporting the army was reduced and the police force was reduced to its pre-war size, with increases limited to population increases; paramilitary forces were forbidden.[68] The Rhineland was to be demilitarized, all fortifications in the Rhineland and 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the river were to be demolished and new construction was forbidden.[69] Military structures and fortifications on the islands of Heligoland and Düne were to be destroyed.[70] Germany was prohibited from the arms trade, limits were imposed on the type and quantity of weapons and prohibited from the manufacture or stockpile of chemical weapons, armoured cars, tanks and military aircraft.[71] The German navy was allowed six pre-dreadnought battleships and was limited to a maximum of six light cruisers (not exceeding 6,000 long tons (6,100 t)), twelve destroyers (not exceeding 800 long tons (810 t)) and twelve torpedo boats (not exceeding 200 long tons (200 t)) and was forbidden submarines.[72] The manpower of the navy was not to exceed 15,000 men, including manning for the fleet, coast defences, signal stations, administration, other land services, officers and men of all grades and corps. The number of officers and warrant officers was not allowed to exceed 1,500 men.[73] Germany surrendered eight battleships, eight light cruisers, forty-two destroyers, and fifty torpedo boats for decommissioning. Thirty-two auxiliary ships were to be disarmed and converted to merchant use.[74] Article 198 prohibited Germany from having an air force, including naval air forces, and required Germany to hand over all aerial related materials. In conjunction, Germany was forbidden to manufacture or import aircraft or related material for a period of six months following the signing of the treaty.[75]

text: Reparations

text: In Article 231 Germany accepted responsibility for the losses and damages caused by the war "as a consequence of the ... aggression of Germany and her allies."[76][nb 2] The treaty required Germany to compensate the Allied powers, and it also established an Allied "Reparation Commission" to determine the exact amount which Germany would pay and the form that such payment would take. The commission was required to "give to the German Government a just opportunity to be heard", and to submit its conclusions by 1 May 1921. In the interim, the treaty required Germany to pay an equivalent of 20 billion gold marks ($5 billion) in gold, commodities, ships, securities or other forms. The money would help to pay for Allied occupation costs and buy food and raw materials for Germany.[81][82]

text: Guarantees

text: To ensure compliance, the Rhineland and bridgeheads east of the Rhine were to be occupied by Allied troops for fifteen years.[83] If Germany had not committed aggression, a staged withdrawal would take place; after five years, the Cologne bridgehead and the territory north of a line along the Ruhr would be evacuated. After ten years, the bridgehead at Coblenz and the territories to the north would be evacuated and after fifteen years remaining Allied forces would be withdrawn.[84] If Germany reneged on the treaty obligations, the bridgeheads would be reoccupied immediately.[85]

text: International organizations

text: Part I of the treaty, as per all the treaties signed during the Paris Peace Conference,[nb 3] was the Covenant of the League of Nations, which provided for the creation of the League, an organization for the arbitration of international disputes.[86] Part XIII organized the establishment of the International Labour Officer, to regulate hours of work, including a maximum working day and week; the regulation of the labour supply; the prevention of unemployment; the provision of a living wage; the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment; the protection of children, young persons and women; provision for old age and injury; protection of the interests of workers when employed abroad; recognition of the principle of freedom of association; the organization of vocational and technical education and other measures.[87] The treaty also called for the signatories to sign or ratify the International Opium Convention.[88]

text: Reactions

text: Among the allies

text: Britain

text: The surrender of the German High Seas Fleet following the Armistice and its internment (and eventual scuttling) in Scapa Flow meant that Britain had already accomplished her primary war goal even before the Paris Peace Conference opened. With the German naval threat removed, Britain began focusing on Germany as a bulwark against the threat posed by the new Soviet Union.

text: Thus, British policy towards Germany began diverging from France's almost from the moment the guns fell silent. British officials at the conference declared French policy to be "greedy" and "vindictive," with Ramsay MacDonald later announcing, after Hitler's re-militarisation of the Rhineland in 1936, that he was "pleased" that the treaty was "vanishing", expressing his hope that the French had been taught a "severe lesson".[89] In 1938, Lloyd George published a massive two-volume memoir titled The Truth About the Peace Treaties, in which he effectively repudiated the terms of the treaty that bore his signature.[90]

text: France

text: France signed the treaty and was active in the League. The French people rejoiced that Alsace and Lorraine had been returned to France and that Germany had agreed to pay reparations. But the perception that Clemenceau had failed to achieve all of France's demands damaged him politically. When he stood for election as President of France in January 1920, he was defeated. Through much of the 1920s, France was the most vigorous of the wartime Allies in seeking to enforce the treaty's harsher terms, especially with regard to reparations. Without strong British support, however, she was largely unsuccessful. French Marshal Ferdinand Foch—who felt the restrictions on Germany were too lenient—prophetically predicted that "this (treaty) is not peace. It is an Armistice for twenty years."[91]

text: Italy

text: Reaction in Italy to the treaty was extremely negative. The country had suffered high casualties, yet failed to achieve most of its major war goals, notably gaining control of the Dalmatian coast and Fiume. President Wilson rejected Italy's claims on the basis of "national self-determination." For their part, Britain and France—who had been forced in the war's latter stages to divert their own troops to the Italian front to stave off collapse—were disinclined to support Italy's position at the peace conference. Differences in negotiating strategy between Premier Vittorio Orlando and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino further undermined Italy's position at the conference. A furious Vittorio Orlando suffered a nervous collapse and at one point walked out of the conference (though he later returned). He lost his position as prime minister just a week before the treaty was scheduled to be signed, effectively ending his active political career. Anger and dismay over the treaty's provisions helped pave the way for the establishment of Benito Mussolini's dictatorship three years later.

text: Portugal

text: Portugal entered the war on the Allied side in 1916 primarily to ensure the security of its African colonies, which were threatened with seizure by both Britain and Germany. To this extent, she succeeded in her war aims. The treaty recognized Portuguese sovereignty over these areas and awarded her small portions of Germany's bordering overseas colonies. Otherwise, however, Portugal obtained little at the peace conference. Her promised share of German reparations never materialized, and a seat she coveted on the executive council of the new League of Nations went instead to Spain—which had remained neutral in the war. In the end, Portugal ratified the treaty, but got little out of the war, which cost more than 8,000 Portuguese troops and as many as 100,000 of her African colonial subjects their lives.[92]

text: United States

text: After the Versailles conference, Democratic President Woodrow Wilson claimed that "at last the world knows America as the savior of the world!"[93] However, the Republican Party, led by Henry Cabot Lodge, controlled the US Senate after the election of 1918, and the senators were divided into multiple positions on the Versailles question. It proved possible to build a majority coalition, but impossible to build a two-thirds coalition that was needed to pass a treaty.[94]

text: A discontent bloc of 12–18 "Irreconcilables", mostly Republicans but also representatives of the Irish and German Democrats, fiercely opposed the treaty. One block of Democrats strongly supported the Versailles Treaty, even with reservations added by Lodge. A second group of Democrats supported the treaty but followed Wilson in opposing any amendments or reservations. The largest bloc, led by Senator Lodge,[95] comprised a majority of the Republicans. They wanted a treaty with reservations, especially on Article 10, which involved the power of the League of Nations to make war without a vote by the US Congress.[96] All of the Irreconcilables were bitter enemies of President Wilson, and he launched a nationwide speaking tour in the summer of 1919 to refute them. However, Wilson collapsed midway with a serious stroke that effectively ruined his leadership skills.[97]

text: The closest the treaty came to passage was on 19 November 1919, as Lodge and his Republicans formed a coalition with the pro-Treaty Democrats, and were close to a two-thirds majority for a Treaty with reservations, but Wilson rejected this compromise and enough Democrats followed his lead to permanently end the chances for ratification. Among the American public as a whole, the Irish Catholics and the German Americans were intensely opposed to the treaty, saying it favored the British.[98]

text: After Wilson's presidency, his successor Republican President Warren G. Harding continued American opposition to the formation of the League of Nations. Congress subsequently passed the Knox–Porter Resolution bringing a formal end to hostilities between the United States and the Central Powers. It was signed into law by President Harding on 2 July 1921.[99][100] Soon after, the US–German Peace Treaty of 1921 was signed in Berlin on 25 August 1921, the US–Austrian Peace Treaty of 1921 was signed in Vienna on 24 August 1921, and the US–Hungarian Peace Treaty of 1921 was signed in Budapest on 29 August 1921.

text: China

text: China felt betrayed as the German territory in China was handed to Japan. The sense of betrayal led to great demonstrations in China and the fall of the nascent Chinese Republic's government and poisoned relations with the West. [101][102]

text: House's views

text: Wilson's former friend Edward Mandell House, present at the negotiations, wrote in his diary on 29 June 1919:

text: I am leaving Paris, after eight fateful months, with conflicting emotions. Looking at the conference in retrospect, there is much to approve and yet much to regret. It is easy to say what should have been done, but more difficult to have found a way of doing it. To those who are saying that the treaty is bad and should never have been made and that it will involve Europe in infinite difficulties in its enforcement, I feel like admitting it. But I would also say in reply that empires cannot be shattered, and new states raised upon their ruins without disturbance. To create new boundaries is to create new troubles. The one follows the other. While I should have preferred a different peace, I doubt very much whether it could have been made, for the ingredients required for such a peace as I would have were lacking at Paris.[103]

text: In Germany

text: On 29 April, the German delegation under the leadership of the Foreign Minister Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau arrived in Versailles. On 7 May, when faced with the conditions dictated by the victors, including the so-called "War Guilt Clause", von Brockdorff-Rantzau replied to Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George: "We know the full brunt of hate that confronts us here. You demand from us to confess we were the only guilty party of war; such a confession in my mouth would be a lie."[104] Because Germany was not allowed to take part in the negotiations, the German government issued a protest against what it considered to be unfair demands, and a "violation of honour",[105] soon afterwards withdrawing from the proceedings of the peace conference.

text: Germans of all political shades denounced the treaty—particularly the provision that blamed Germany for starting the war—as an insult to the nation's honor. They referred to the treaty as "the Diktat" since its terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Germany′s first democratically elected head of government, Philipp Scheidemann, resigned rather than sign the treaty. In a passionate speech before the National Assembly on 21 March 1919, he called the treaty a "murderous plan" and exclaimed,

text: Which hand, trying to put us in chains like these, would not wither? The treaty is unacceptable.[106]

text: After Scheidemann′s resignation, a new coalition government was formed under Gustav Bauer. President Friedrich Ebert knew that Germany was in an impossible situation. Although he shared his countrymen's disgust with the treaty, he was sober enough to consider the possibility that the government would not be in a position to reject it. He believed that if Germany refused to sign the treaty, the Allies would invade Germany from the west—and there was no guarantee that the army would be able to make a stand in the event of an invasion. With this in mind, he asked Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg if the army was capable of any meaningful resistance in the event the Allies resumed the war. If there was even the slightest chance that the army could hold out, Ebert intended to recommend against ratifying the treaty. Hindenburg—after prodding from his chief of staff, Wilhelm Groener—concluded the army could not resume the war even on a limited scale. However, rather than inform Ebert himself, he had Groener inform the government that the army would be in an untenable position in the event of renewed hostilities. Upon receiving this, the new government recommended signing the treaty. The National Assembly voted in favour of signing the treaty by 237 to 138, with five abstentions (there were 421 delegates in total). This result was wired to Clemenceau just hours before the deadline. Foreign minister Hermann Müller and colonial minister Johannes Bell travelled to Versailles to sign the treaty on behalf of Germany. The treaty was signed on 28 June 1919 and ratified by the National Assembly on 9 July by a vote of 209 to 116.[107]

text: Conservatives, nationalists and ex-military leaders condemned the treaty. Politicians of the Weimar Republic who supported the treaty, socialists, communists, and Jews were viewed with suspicion as persons of questionable loyalty.[citation needed] It was rumored that Jews had not supported the war and had played a role in selling Germany out to its enemies. Those who seemed to benefit from a weakened Germany and the newly formed Weimar Republic were regarded as having "stabbed Germany in the back". Those who instigated unrest and strikes in the critical military industries on the home front or who opposed German nationalism were seen to have contributed to Germany's defeat.[citation needed] These theories were given credence by the fact that when Germany surrendered in November 1918, its armies were still on French and Belgian territory. Furthermore, on the Eastern Front, Germany had already won the war against Russia and concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. In the West, Germany had seemed to have come close to winning the war with the Spring Offensive earlier in 1918.[citation needed] Its failure was blamed on strikes in the arms industry at a critical moment of the offensive, leaving soldiers with an inadequate supply of materiel. The strikes were regarded by nationalists as having been instigated by traitors, with the Jews taking most of the blame.[citation needed]

text: Violations

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text: The German economy was so weak that only a small percentage of reparations was paid in hard currency.[citation needed] Nonetheless, even the payment of this small percentage of the original reparations (132 billion gold marks) still placed a significant burden on the German economy.[citation needed] Although the causes of the devastating post-war hyperinflation are complex and disputed, Germans blamed the near-collapse of their economy on the treaty, and some economists estimated that the reparations accounted for as much as one-third of the hyper-inflation.[citation needed]

text: In March 1921, French and Belgian troops occupied Duisburg, which formed part of the demilitarized Rhineland, according to the Treaty of Versailles.[citation needed] In January 1923, French and Belgian forces occupied the rest of the Ruhr area as a reprisal after Germany failed to fulfill reparation payments demanded by the Versailles Treaty. The German government answered with "passive resistance", which meant that coal miners and railway workers refused to obey any instructions by the occupation forces.[citation needed] Production and transportation came to a standstill, but the financial consequences contributed to German hyperinflation and completely ruined public finances in Germany. Consequently, passive resistance was called off in late 1923.[citation needed] The end of passive resistance in the Ruhr allowed Germany to undertake a currency reform and to negotiate the Dawes Plan, which led to the withdrawal of French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr Area in 1925.[citation needed]

text: Some significant violations of the provisions of the treaty were:

text:
At the time of signing in 1919, the dissolution of the General Staff according to Article 160 appeared to happen; however, the core of the General Staff was reestablished and hidden in the Truppenamt.[108][109]
March 1935, under the government of Adolf Hitler, Germany violated the Part V of the Treaty of Versailles by introducing compulsory military conscription in Germany and rebuilding the armed forces.[110][111]
March 1936, Germany violated Article 43 of the treaty by reoccupying the demilitarized zone in the Rhineland.[69][112]
March 1938, Germany violated Article 80 of the treaty by annexing Austria in the Anschluss.[113][114]

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text: Historical assessments

text: According to David Stevenson, since the opening of French archives, most commentators have remarked on French restraint and reasonableness at the conference, though Stevenson notes that "[t]he jury is still out", and that "there have been signs that the pendulum of judgement is swinging back the other way."[115]

text: In his book The Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keynes referred to the Treaty of Versailles as a "Carthaginian peace", a misguided attempt to destroy Germany on behalf of French revanchism, rather than to follow the fairer principles for a lasting peace set out in President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, which Germany had accepted at the armistice. He stated: "I believe that the campaign for securing out of Germany the general costs of the war was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible."[116] Keynes had been the principal representative of the British Treasury at the Paris Peace Conference, and used in his passionate book arguments that he and others (including some US officials) had used at Paris.[117] He believed the sums being asked of Germany in reparations were many times more than it was possible for Germany to pay, and that these would produce drastic instability.[118]

text: French economist Étienne Mantoux disputed that analysis. During the 1940s, Mantoux wrote a posthumously published book titled The Carthaginian Peace, or the Economic Consequences of Mr. Keynes in an attempt to rebut Keynes' claims. More recently economists have argued that the restriction of Germany to a small army saved it so much money it could afford the reparations payments.[119]

text: It has been argued (for instance by historian Gerhard Weinberg in his book A World At Arms[120]) that the treaty was in fact quite advantageous to Germany. The Bismarckian Reich was maintained as a political unit instead of being broken up, and Germany largely escaped post-war military occupation (in contrast to the situation following World War II). In a 1995 essay, Weinberg noted that with the disappearance of Austria-Hungary and with Russia withdrawn from Europe, that Germany was now the dominant power in Eastern Europe.[121]

text: The British military historian Correlli Barnett claimed that the Treaty of Versailles was "extremely lenient in comparison with the peace terms that Germany herself, when she was expecting to win the war, had had in mind to impose on the Allies". Furthermore, he claimed, it was "hardly a slap on the wrist" when contrasted with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that Germany had imposed on a defeated Russia in March 1918, which had taken away a third of Russia's population (albeit of non-Russian ethnicity), one-half of Russia's industrial undertakings and nine-tenths of Russia's coal mines, coupled with an indemnity of six billion marks.[122] Eventually, even under the "cruel" terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany′s economy had been restored to its pre-war status.

text: Barnett also claims that, in strategic terms, Germany was in fact in a superior position following the Treaty than she had been in 1914. Germany′s eastern frontiers faced Russia and Austria, who had both in the past balanced German power. Barnett asserts that its post-war eastern borders were safer, because the former Austrian Empire fractured after the war into smaller, weaker states, Russia was wracked by revolution and civil war, and the newly restored Poland was no match for even a defeated Germany. In the West, Germany was balanced only by France and Belgium, both of which were smaller in population and less economically vibrant than Germany. Barnett concludes by saying that instead of weakening Germany, the treaty "much enhanced" German power.[123] Britain and France should have (according to Barnett) "divided and permanently weakened" Germany by undoing Bismarck's work and partitioning Germany into smaller, weaker states so it could never have disrupted the peace of Europe again.[124] By failing to do this and therefore not solving the problem of German power and restoring the equilibrium of Europe, Britain "had failed in her main purpose in taking part in the Great War".[125]

text: The British historian of modern Germany, Richard J. Evans, wrote that during the war the German right was committed to an annexationist program which aimed at Germany annexing most of Europe and Africa. Consequently, any peace treaty that did not leave Germany as the conqueror would be unacceptable to them.[126] Short of allowing Germany to keep all the conquests of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Evans argued that there was nothing that could have been done to persuade the German right to accept Versailles.[126] Evans further noted that the parties of the Weimar Coalition, namely the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the social liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Christian democratic Centre Party, were all equally opposed to Versailles, and it is false to claim as some historians have that opposition to Versailles also equalled opposition to the Weimar Republic.[126] Finally, Evans argued that it is untrue that Versailles caused the premature end of the Republic, instead contending that it was the Great Depression of the early 1930s that put an end to German democracy. He also argued that Versailles was not the "main cause" of National Socialism and the German economy was "only marginally influenced by the impact of reparations".[126]

text: Ewa Thompson points out that the treaty allowed numerous nations in Central and Eastern Europe to liberate themselves from oppressive German rule, a fact that is often neglected by Western historiography, more interested in understanding the German point of view. In nations that found themselves free as the result of the treaty—such as Poles or Czechs—it is seen as a symbol of recognition of wrongs committed against small nations by their much larger aggressive neighbours.[127]

text: Regardless of modern strategic or economic analysis, resentment caused by the treaty sowed fertile psychological ground for the eventual rise of the Nazi Party.[citation needed] The German historian Detlev Peukert wrote that Versailles was far from the impossible peace that most Germans claimed it was during the interwar period, and though not without flaws was actually quite reasonable to Germany.[128] Rather, Peukert argued that it was widely believed in Germany that Versailles was a totally unreasonable treaty, and it was this "perception" rather than the "reality" of the Versailles treaty that mattered.[128] Peukert noted that because of the "millenarian hopes" created in Germany during World War I when for a time it appeared that Germany was on the verge of conquering all of Europe, any peace treaty the Allies of World War I imposed on the defeated German Reich were bound to create a nationalist backlash, and there was nothing the Allies could have done to avoid that backlash.[128] Having noted that much, Peukert commented that the policy of rapprochement with the Western powers that Gustav Stresemann carried out between 1923 and 1929 were constructive policies that might have allowed Germany to play a more positive role in Europe, and that it was not true that German democracy was doomed to die in 1919 because of Versailles.[128] Finally, Peukert argued that it was the Great Depression and the turn to a nationalist policy of autarky within Germany at the same time that finished off the Weimar Republic, not the Treaty of Versailles.[128]

text: French historian Raymond Cartier states that millions of Germans in the Sudetenland and in Posen-West Prussia were placed under foreign rule in a hostile environment, where harassment and violation of rights by authorities are documented.[129] Cartier asserts that, out of 1,058,000 Germans in Posen-West Prussia in 1921, 758,867 fled their homelands within five years due to Polish harassment.[129] In 1926, the Polish Ministry of the Interior estimated the remaining number of Germans at fewer than 300,000.[citation needed] These sharpening ethnic conflicts would lead to public demands to reattach the annexed territory in 1938 and become a pretext for Hitler′s annexations of Czechoslovakia and parts of Poland.[129]